KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 28 — The owner of Facebook account “N13 Kuang”, Mohd Fauzan Madzlan, was ordered by the High Court today to file his statement of defence by January 15, 2024, in response to Communication Minister Fahmi Fadzil’s lawsuit against him.
The Lembah Pantai MP filed a defamation suit against Fauzan on September 5 to refute allegations that he had made a political speech at a mosque in Rawang, Selangor.
Fahmi’s lawyer Asheeq Ali Sethi Alivi said the court also ordered the minister to file his response to the defence on or by January 29.
“The court set February 7 for case management to allow both parties to update the filing status and interlocutory filing (if any),” he said when contacted after the e-review case management before senior assistant registrar Nur Shasha Hidayah Nor Azahar today.
Fahmi has also filed lawsuits against independent speaker Ahmad Dusuki Abd Rani and blogger Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris, better known as “Papagomo”, on the same matter.
In his statement of claim, he alleged the three defendants had published defamatory words by accusing him of abusing a place of worship, namely a mosque, to campaign for an election, contrary to the orders by His Royal Highness the Sultan of Selangor.
Fahmi claimed the defamatory words were posted on Fauzan’s Facebook and Ahmad’s Facebook and Instagram pages on July 31, as well as Azri’s TikTok and Facebook pages on August 1.
He added the slanderous statements were baseless, and the Selangor Islamic Religious Council had confirmed he did not make any political speech as alleged by the defendants.
Therefore, Fahmi is seeking general damages, aggravated or exemplary damages, and an injunction to restrain the defendants from repeating or causing the re-publication of the defamatory statements.
— Bernama
